After suffering a pair of road losses to unranked opponents, the Oklahoma Sooners fell eight spots to No. 12 in this week’s AP Poll. The Kansas Jayhawks, Oklahoma’s Tuesday opponent, moved up to No. 5 this week.

Considering how lackluster OU looked at times last week, a fall to No. 12 isn’t so bad, is it? It’s also probably fair considering how good the Big 12 is from top to bottom. The league currently has four of the top 15 teams in this week’s rankings, as No. 7 West Virginia and No. 14 Texas Tech rounded things out for the Big 12.

A win on Tuesday would vault Oklahoma right back into the conversation for a high tournament seed and potentially even a Big 12 title. Kansas is still Kansas, but Kansas is vulnerable. Then again, Bill Self pulls a rabbit out of his hat every time that appears to be the case. Nevertheless, I actually think Trae Young and Oklahoma will pull it off in Norman on Tuesday. I also have a bad feeling that I’m going to be so, so wrong, but whatever.

AP Poll

1. Villanova
2. Virginia
3. Purdue
4. Duke
5. Kansas
6. Michigan State
7. West Virginia
8. Xavier
9. Cincinnati
10. North Carolina
11. Arizona
12. Oklahoma
13. Ohio State
14. Texas Tech
15. Gonzaga
16. St. Mary’s
17. Wichita State
18. Clemson
19. Auburn
20. Florida
21. Arizona State
22. Tennessee
23. Nevada
24. Rhode Island
25. Michigan